The Perfect Catch
by Don't need nothin' but a pen
Summary: After finding out her marriage isn't as perfect as she thinks, Bella decides it's time to find herself again and a world cruise sounds like the perfect way to do that.
1. Chapter 1

_*This is an alternate version for The Right Fish, if you've read that skip to chapter 12*_

 ** _Breaking Through The Illusion_**

I was always pretty much married to my father's company. That was what, Rosalie, my best friend always told me anyway. I had grow up being my father's only heir. So I was trained since I was in diapers to take over the company, I never really had the option to do anything else. I was okay with that though, I was proud of what I had accomplished, I had worked hard to get where I was. Maybe that was where I went wrong. I was so involved in taking care of the company, I forgot to take care of my own marriage.

I was fourteen when I met Edward Mansen. He and his family had just moved to Seattle from Chicago. He was all Bronze hair and bright green eyes. I was hooked from the minute he sat down next to me in biology and I accidentally stabbed him with a pencil. Thankfully he felt the same way. It was a fairy tale romance. Not to say we didn't argue, but we were always it for each other.

We got married at 18 straight out of high school, though my father wasn't too impressed with that. We left for collage together shortly after and moved in together. There were a lot more arguments, of course and we now had to deal with all the grown up responsibilities and frustrations that came with college. But we made it through.

At 22 we moved back to Seattle. I was fresh out of college and was just starting the very long and hard company take over that I had been training for my entire life and Edward had already finished law school a year earlier and was well on his way to becoming one of the best lawyers in Seattle. I thought our marriage was perfect. But it wasn't.

It was late nights at the office for me, missed dates and coming home late at night. Forgetting to call, or missing an anniversary. For Edward, it was eating dinner alone and celebrating winning a court case by his self. But no, maybe I pushed him into to doing what he did, but I wasn't the one to ruin our marriage. He was.


	2. What Hurts The Most

_**What Hurts The Most**_

 _One week earlier..._

"You missed the show last night" I looked up from the papers I had out in front of me on the kitchen bench to see Edward leaning on the door frame to the lounge. I thought it over quickly and realised I had indeed forgotten about him sisters fashion show.

"I'm sorry, Edward, I completely forgot. I'm sure Alice didn't mind. We all know she isn't my biggest fan and she knows I'm not much into fashion. I'm sorry you had to go alone though" I was looking back down at the papers before I had even gotten halfway through my sentence. I knew he'd understand, he always does. I'd take the day off tomorrow and make it up to him. For that I'd need to get this finished though.

"It's fine. A colleague of mine accompanied me. You know that's not true though, about Alice. She just doesn't like that you won't let her shop for you, people pay a lot of money for she designs" I had heard this before, many times before in fact. I just didn't like people dressing me. I was capable of doing it myself.

"I'm sure Seth had fun perving on all the models" I said assuming that was who he took. He and Seth went to law school together and are planning on opening a law firm together in a few year. Edward didn't answer so I assumed he gave a silent respond.

"I'll be up for bed in a minute. Just need to finish these" I said jumping slightly when I felt his lips against my cheek.

"Don't be too long, love" He whispered against my skin and I nodded my response, opening my laptop that was on the table, I felt him sigh against my skin before turning and leaving to go upstairs. I found him asleep in bed three hours later when I came up, changing quickly I got in beside him switching off my alarm as I did so. Only seconds after my head hit the pillow I was asleep.

When I woke the sun was only just peaking through the gap in the curtains and Edward was stirring beside me. I propped myself up on my elbow with my head in my hand staring down at him. He wasn't quite awake yet, trying to shake the last bit of sleep off. When he finally opened his eyes, he looked a little startled to see me smiling down at him. I suppose that's understandable, I probably looked a little creepy.

"Playing hooky today" I announced, my smile turning to to a grin, his green eyes brightened, but then he frowned.

"I have a court hearing scheduled today at 10, I can't miss it" He said still frowning. I look over at the clock

 _07:14am_

"We've got plenty of time" I grin at him, wrapping my arm around his neck and pulling his lips to mine.

 _09:02am_

I giggle as I wrap his tie around my neck, threading the perfect knot in it as I watch Edward frantically get dressed, he shoots me a playful glare as he snaps his watch into place and stalks over to me, I bite my lip as I grin at him and scoot backwards on the bed. He crawls on after me grabbing my ankles and pulling me down, quickly crawling over me and pinning me under him.

"You think it's funny, huh?" I shake my head pressing my lips together to stop my laughter coming out. I glance to the clock and take the tie from my neck, switching it to his.

"9:26" Is all I say and it's all it takes to have him climbing off me and the bed. A sweet kiss on my lips and words of love and he's gone. I tease him, but I hope he's not late, he's not fond of tardiness.

I flopped back on the bed with a sigh "What to do, what to do" I mumbled to myself. I couldn't even remember when the last time it was that I had a day off. I grabbed the book that was sitting in the bedside table, _Withering Hights_ I smiled at the book, it was my favorite. Edward must have put it there without me seeing. I opened it eagerly, it had been so long since I last read it. Maybe I'll just read a chapter.

 _ **Beep Beep Beep**_

 _12:18pm_

I put the book down, realising I had been reading for longer than I thought and there was a beeping noise coming from under the bed. I frowned slightly and leaned over the side of the bed, I could make out the outline of a phone under the bed and almost fell of reaching for it, I managed to reach for it though and realised it was Edwards personal cell, I was about to reach out for my phone to call his work cell when it lit up with another message.

 _Tanya_

I looked down at the screen confused, only I and a handful of others knew this number, Edward normally gave out his work number as it's the one he keeps with him at all times, but I'd never heard him mention a Tanya. Why would he give her his private number? My finger hovered over the pass-code, I knew it, of course. It was the date his pet dog had died. I had never gone through his phone before though. Never felt the need to.

I typed in the six digit code slowly, scolding myself as I did it, I should't be doing it. I couldn't seems to stop myself though as my finger clicked down on her name and I almost dropped the phone

 _ **I love you, please just answer the phone**_

 _ **I dont know what to do**_

 _ **Kate said to take care of, but its ours**_

 _ **I'm sorrry**_

 _ **Edward please, we need to talk about this**_

 _ **please answer me**_

 _ **ignoring this isnt going to make this go away**_

 _ **I know youd never leave her but I don't know what to do**_

 _ **and im scared as well I didn't plan to get pregnant**_

And the I actually did drop the phone.


	3. What If The World Was Perfect

_**What If The World Was Perfect**_

I never liked wine. Edward drank it constantly at dinner, I just never much liked the taste. But here I sat, half a bottle down as I watched tiny air bubbles escape from under the water of our unnecessarily big swimming pool. Edwards silver Corvette shining underneath the surface. It had taken a bit of work to get it into the backyard and push it nose first into the deep end. I had to break down one of the side fences to even get it close. It was worth it just to watch it sink to the bottom of the pool.

It had maybe been taking it to far. But it had made me feel slightly better. My mind was still trying to come to terms with what I had read on his phone. I didn't know how to feel. How long had it been going on? Did he love her as she claimed to love him? I didn't know what to think. What to do.

I had already called Jake, my brother and cried my heart out to him. He was ready to put Edward in the hospital. But that's not what I wanted. Violence would solve this. He did convince me to call Jenks though and have him draw up a quick set of divorce paper. It wouldn't take long he assured. We had both signed a prenuptial agreement at the insistence of my father. It would make the separation quick and easy. Married and divorced before 25. I bet my parents are so proud.

Five years of marriage and four years together before that and this is how it ends. I knew I needed to hear him out. See what his side of things were. Or maybe I just wanted to hear it from him that it was true. Maybe it'd make it easier to hate him. But I doubted it. I had loved nine years and would have loved him for a hundred more. I wish I could have hated him, he's the only man I've ever been with, The only man I've ever loved. I thought I could say the same thing for him, but I guess not.

I brought the wine glass to my lips lazily, swallowing the last of the contents. I walked calming back inside, refilling my glass just in time for the doorbell to ring. I sighed drinking half the glass before making my way to the front door. JJ Jenks stood on the other side looking around nervously. He handed me the papers quickly and explained them briefly before he was gone again. I looked down at the papers. Not actually reading, but just blankly looking at them. Was this really what this came to. A few words on paper and it was done. I would no longer be Mrs Isabella Masen. I'd go back to being just me. Bella Swan.

A saying my father use to tell me came to mind. If you catch the right one too early, you run the risk of it being too young and having to set it free, maybe we had been too young. We didn't have the experience most people had before catching the right fish. Maybe if we had met later in life things would be different. But the game of what if is a dangerous game to play. You could spend forever with the regrets of what could have happened and would never know for sure.

I heard the doorbell ring once and then twice more when I didn't answer it. I walked over to it, but didn't open it. I just stood staring at it. As if I was trying go see through it.

 ** _Come to 149 Eastwick street at 4pm. We can talk there._**

It was her. I knew this was coming. I had sent the message insuring it would. But now, with her standing just on the outside of the door to my home, the home I shared with the man both of us apparently loved, did I really want her here. So many memories tied into this place. We were going to raise our children here.

Would he now raise their child here? I couldn't bare that thought. We had spent four months looking for this place. Was I ready to just let it go? To let him go?

There was a rapid knock on the door now. She must be impatient to see Edward. To talk to him about their child. I blinked rapidly to stop the tears and swallowed the rest of my glass before setting it down on the side table and pulling the door open.

She was blonde. Not just blonde. She was a strawberry blonde with icy blue eyes, a thin waist and big breasts.

 _Seriously?_

I could tell she was shocked that I was the one to answer the door, she masked it quickly though and smiled brightly "I'm sorry. I must have the wrong place" she turned, ready to leave as fast as she could no doubt. Did she know it was me? The wife of the man that she is having a child with.

"Tanya, right?" I hadn't meant for the words to sound as if I was mocking her, but even to my own ears that's how it sounded and she stopped, almost at her car and turned to face me.

"Uh, yeah. That's right. Bella, isn't it?" She stuttered, still standing next to her car. I gestured to the open door. Silently inviting her in. She looked as if she would decline. But after glancing at her car and her watch. She decided to accept and walked into the house. I directed her to the living room before speaking.

"Oh, so you know who I am?" I asked refilling the wine glass I had picked back up on our way through. I didn't bother offering a glass. I knew she couldn't accept it.

"Of course. Edward talks about you all the time" by the wince on her face and the sadness that dimmed her eyes. I knew that was probably true. Had they spent the night together? Had she heard him call out my name as he often did in his sleep? Or did he not do that when he was with her. Did I not, even in sleep, come into his mind when they were together?

"So, you knew he had a wife, you just chose to sleep with him anyway?" She flinched at my words and I brought the glass to my lips as she thought to herself.

"Edward and I work together. Our relationship is purely professional" she said it so well that I almost believed her. How many times had she said it. To other people that maybe noticed something I didn't? Or maybe she had a husband of her own?

"So you're not pregnant with my husband's child?" Her eyes widened slightly and her mouth dropped open ever so slightly.

"Of course not" she denied shaking her head.

"I'm not mad at you or even Edward" I went on. Ignoring her denial "I wish maybe he'd have come to me. Told me he didn't love me anymore. Maybe it would have prevented heartache for both you and I"

"He does though" she was crying now. No doubt because of the hormones that came with carrying a child. Edwards child. The child I was suppose to be carrying "he loves you. He always talks about you, as if you were above all others. As if you were a God among mortals. He never, never talks about me that way" she was sobbing now and I resisted the urge to comfort her. She was hurting? Why? Because the man she was sleeping with didn't talk about her, like he did his wife? My sympathy doesn't quite cover that one "You're just always away. And you ignore him, you miss everything. You pushed him to do it"

I opened my mouth ready to answer. Was she really blaming me for her sleeping with my husband? I wasn't angry with her, I was furious. Maybe I did spend a little long at the office. Maybe I forgot a few dates. But I remember clearly what it was like that first year after he graduated law school. The late nights. Not seeing him for days and cold dinners alone. Did I run to someone else when I was lonely and tired of spending nights alone? No.

I crawled into one of his shirts and looked at old pictures of us. Reminded me why the lonely nights were worth it. It made him happy. It was all he ever wanted to do. So I accepted it. He was making a name for himself. And wasn't that what I was doing? Making a name for myself in my fathers company. Did my late nights and missed dates make it okay for this to happen? Make it okay for there to be some other woman to be sitting here in front of me carrying my husbands child? Trying to make it sound okay that he broke his vows to me in one of the worst possible ways? The world is a fucked up place if it does.

I didn't get a chance to say any of it though. Cause with the bang of the front door and the shocked look on my husbands face as he took in our guest. All my words just disappeared.


	4. Looking Through The Looking Glass

_**Looking Through The Looking Glass**_

I was frozen. Seeing him standing there. Looking the same as always. Yet so different. Maybe it wasn't him that was different. Maybe it was the way I was seeing him that was different. I could feeling the sharp prickling feeling at the back of my nose but forced myself not to cry. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing it affect me so much. I had cried enough tears over him and I'm sure I'll shed a few more after this is all said and done. But not here. Not with both of them watching. I'd make sure Edward never saw me cry for him. For what he has done.

"Tanya? What are you doing here?" Edward looked confused. Maybe it was for my benefit. Or because he was actually confused as to why she'd be here.

"We were just catching up" I answered smiling sweetly at Edward. He took a seat across from me. Looking lost.

"I didn't realise you had met before" he said softly.

"Oh, we haven't, we have a lot in common though. Like for instance, we've both apparently fucked you" I spat. Edwards eyes flashed and he glanced over at Tanya.

"I can explain" I actually laughed at that.

"You're suppose to be good with words. Couldn't think of something more original?" I mocked.

"I never meant for-" I stood up quickly and cut him off.

"Never meant for what? For me to find out? Or was it that you never meant to get her knocked up?" I threw the wine glass I was holding at the back wall. Then ran my hand across my face to calm myself down. I liked to think I was a rational person. But give me more than one drink and piss me off. I have a temper that could rival my fathers. I would almost never become violent, but things tend to end up broken a lot.

"I was going to tell you. I swear I was. I just didn't know how" Edward stood up and tried to reach for me but I stepped back quickly.

"So you did know. When did she tell you?" I asked glancing at Tanya. She had her head in her hands. He glanced at her too and went to her side crouching down next to her And laying a hand on her shoulder, I forced myself not to comment on it. Or let him know how much just touching her was getting to me. He said something quietly and she roughly shrugged his hand off and left a minute later. Leaving us alone.

"At Alice's show" he admitted after a minute "I didn't know what to do, Bella. It was a mistake"

"So it only happened once?" I asked sarcastically. The look on his face was enough proof that it happened a lot more than once "that is what a mistake insinuates, Edward. That you do something once and realise it was a crappy thing to do and you don't do it again"

"Bella, please. I'm sorry. I can fix this" he reached for me again and I pushed him back this time.

"Fix this how? What we're all going to live together and play happy family with your mistress and child?" I asked laughing mockingly.

"She'll take care of it, Bella. She can get rid of it and we can just forget this-" my hand connecting with his cheek cut him off and I covered my mouth. Trying to stop the tears from falling.

"What you did was an asshole move. You hurt me in the worse way possible way and I'll never forgive you for that. But for to, to even suggest-" I stopped to run my hand roughly through my hair "that baby is innocent. It's the father thats the bastard" I pushed passed him. Pocking up my cell phone off the table and sending an SOS message to Rosalie, knowing she'd be there in ten minutes, tops.

"And Edward" I said turning towards him just before opening the door "a bit of advice. Don't say what you just said to me, to her. She is pregnant with _your_ child and that makes her you're responsibility, no matter the circumstances and think before you talk to her. My heart wasn't the only one you've broken" I opened the door and turned my back on him before I continued.

"The papers are on the table. I don't want anything of yours. The prenup covers most of that anyway. Not that I imagined you as a gold digger" I laughed softly shaking my head

"Don't do this, Bella" he whispered "I'm sorry. You were just never around. You threw yourself into the company and just seemed to forget me. I'm not justifying what I did. I shouldn't have, I know and I understand that you may never forgive me. But I can't live without you" he pleaded.

"I would have given you the word Edward. If only you'd have asked for it. I don't really understand what I did wrong. I get it. I wasn't around. I would have taken the time off. Hell, I'd have quit if that would have made you happy. So was all this really worth it? Was she worth it? Nine years Edward. And you couldn't just talk to me? Tell me how you felt? I can't do this. Just sign the papers Edward. Please. For me"

I let the tears fall as I closed the door behind me. That didn't go as I planned. Though I guess I didn't really have a plan going into that. I don't know how long I stood there crying before Rose pulled up and honked for me to get into the car. I was numb all over. My thoughts jumbled.

"I swear to God, I'll kill him" I laughed at Rosalie's words. I hadn't even told her what happened and she was ready to plan his funeral. My laughed died down after a minute though.

"He got her pregnant, Rose. Edward has been sleeping with some woman and she's pregnant" I rubbed my forehead. Feeling a headache coming on and sighed.

"I take it back. I won't just kill him. I'll castrate that asshole first" she mumbled gripping the steering wheel.

"I just want to go somewhere. Where I don't have to worry about all this" I said pulling my legs up to my chest.

"I've got it!" Rosalie exclaimed after a few silent minutes and I almost had a heart attack.

"Got what?" I asked cautiously.

"300 days. 12 countries. 30 cities. It's perfect" I looked over at her still confused "It's the new business venture uncle Charlie is thinking of investing in. We can test it out"

"I don't know, Rosalie. I've got work and responsibilities" I sighed looking out the window.

"You're to inherent the company. No one is going to say shit about you up and leaving for a year. You're 23 Bella! Just act like it for once in you life" she said shaking my shoulder. I laughed scolding her to keep her eyes on the road. I glanced down at my left hand where my rings still sat (as they had for the last five years) innocently on my finger. I had been treated like an adult my entire life. Maybe Rose was right. Maybe I needed to act my age just this once.

 _ **"Lets do it"**_


	5. Just Give Me A Reason

_**Just Give Me A Reason**_

"Some people just aren't meant to fish, Bella" I laughed softly, putting the vanilla scented candle back on the shelf.

"Did you just use one of dad's fishing metaphors?" I asked amused.

"Hell yeah. Uncle Charlie knows his shit" Rosalie answered nudging my shoulder playfully.

"He's cute though" I teased glancing at the blonde guy that was still staring discreetly at her from a CD rack.

"I just don't think I'm cut out for relationships" she said with a shrug. I knew where she was coming from of course. Her last relationship wasn't a healthy one. Royce was an abusive asshole and I was glad when she finally left him. But that was a year ago. Would that be me in a year? Still scared to see what was out there because of Edwards actions.

"You have to give someone a chance sometime, you're depriving a good man the chance to be with you" I sighed picking up a new candle to smell, _cinnamon spice._ Gross.

"I'll go on a date when you do" She said with a laugh. I laughed too and pushed her shoulder.

"It's been a _day,_ Rosalie. I'm not even divorced yet. I won't be going on any dates any time soon" my laughter dyed down after a second though "I think I'm still kind of waiting for that call, you know? For someone to tell me it was all a sick, inappropriate joke and Edward's still an idiot, but a faithful one at least"

"Bells, sometimes you cast your line into the wrong lake and catch stinker, but all you have to do, is pick up your rod and find new lake" she was smirking at me now and I let out a half cry/laugh noise.

"I feel like I'm actually talking to my father right now. You're almost as bad as Jake" I teased and she shivered in disgust. She hated being compered to my bear of a big brother. They had pretty much identical personalities though and I loved to tease them about it.

"I'll stop" she assured, as I knew she would. I rolled my eyes at her and finally chose a set of apple pie scented candles.

"Why are we buying candles again?" I questioned walking over to the register.

"Candles are good for the soul and they cleanse the body. They'll be good for you" I rolled my eyes again at her answer. I pretty sure candles aren't going to help, but to each their own. I payed for my things and sighed quietly before speaking again.

"I'm going to go see Alice" Rosalie stopped short of the car and turned to face me.

"Alice is a grade a bitch. Why would you do that?" She asked confused.

"She knew, Rose. Edward tells her everything" I said "But it was more than that. I feel like there's something more to this. Tanya mentioned a Kate in her text and Edward said she was at Alice's show. It might be a long shot, but I think Tanya might be Kate Denali's sister"

"I don't remember Kate having a sister called Tanya" Rosalie said confused.

"Well, no. Everyone use to call her Red back then. Do you remember that summer we spent at the falls? And Kate's sister was home from college for the week?" I asked

"Holy shit. You're kidding right?" she questioned, eyes wide.

"I'm don't know for sure. But Alice will" I threw the bag with my purchase in the back seat and climbed into the passenger side as Rose climbed into the drivers side.

"Lets go then. Better sooner rather than later" I shook my head at her, but didn't argue.

Ten minutes later I was standing at her front door second guessing my being there. Would any good actually come from talking to her? Did she really hate me that much? Enough to ruin my marriage? I shook my head, knocking on the door quickly and before I had a chance to turn back around run, the door was thrown open and Alice's smiling face was revealed. Her smile slowly slipped off her face as she took me in.

"Bella, what a surprise. What are you doing here?" Her voice faltered slightly and she glanced over her shoulder before stepping outside and closing the door behind her.

"Oh, you know, I was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by" I replied casually "I had an interesting conversation with Edward and a special friend of his, Tanya last night. But you already knew about that, right?" I glanced over at her and she looked a little pale.

"Something Edward said had confused me though and I thought maybe you could enlighten me. Edward had said she was at your show. I know Edward wouldn't be stupid enough to take her somewhere so public, but your shows are harder than Julliard to get into. So I was just curious as to how she could have been there"

"I. She's, ah. Her sister is one of my models" she stuttered out.

"Kate, right?" I asked, trying not to sound too sarcastic.

"Ah, yeah" She answered nodding "you remembered"

"I didn't at first. I couldn't recall at all why she looked familiar. Then I remembered that summer at the falls. She was a red head back then and everyone called her Red. She hadn't had the boob job back then either and I hardly even noticed her and I don't think she noticed me either, the only reason I payed her any attention was because she did notice someone that summer. Edward"

* * *

 _Jake is Bella's older half brother, from her mothers previous marriage and although he has a share in the company, he has no blood connection to Swan Enterprises and still uses his fathers surname._


	6. A Stone In The River

_**A Stone In The River**_

I sat silently in the car. The trees flying past the window as we drove down the road, just a blur of green and only there for a second before they were left behind. My life had seem to fall apart in the last week. Or maybe it was falling apart before that and I just hadn't noticed. I felt like the trees outside. A blur of colour, always standing in place as the world went by. Left to stand alone, only glimpsing into the lives around me, but never was never able to stay. Or maybe like I was being held up by a rope, but instead of it helping me stand, it kept tightening around my neck.

Alice's words keep paying on a loop in my head, like a song I couldn't forget. I wanted to forget them, to have not heard them, but they were burned into my mind, constantly mocking me. It was making the rope tighten, suffocating me with my own mind.

" _You didn't deserve him!_ "

I clenched my hands into fists. I could feel my nails pressed tightly into my palms, but I didn't loosen my grip, it grounded me, kept me from slipping too far into my mind.

" _They met the night of the bonfire that summer. They spent the entire night together._ "

I knew the bonfire she was talking about. I hadn't gone that night, I had come down with a bug and was in bed all week. When I talked to Rose the day after, she didn't even remember seeing him there. He had said he'd gotten lost with a friend trying to get back to the beach. Had it really been her? He never told me the name, I trusted him, so I didn't even think to ask. He had been pretty much unreachable for an entire week after that night. I had just thought he'd caught my bug. It hadn't seemed necessary to ask.

The weeks following that I remember her being around for the first time though. She watched his every move. I never knew why. I thought it was a little strange, but maybe it was just a crush. But was it actually because, even then she had loved him? Had he loved her too?

" _He always felt like he_ owed _you. For helping him get through the divorce. He thought he had to stay. He didn't want to be like them."_

I knew Edward loved me, he has told me so many times that there would never be a doubt in my mind, I had seen in his eyes as we lay in bed together. But what kind of love was it?

" _He loves her. He was scared to tell you, neither of them wanted to hurt you. But you can't help who you fall in love with."_

I knew that well enough. My parents an perfect example of that. My father had been Billy, my mothers ex-husband and Jake's father's best man. They had fallen in love while she was still married, sure they didn't actually get together until well after the divorce, but wasn't it the same thing? ' _I caught the right fish in the wrong season_ ,' is what my father had said.

" _You ruined everything, they're happy together. You should make it easy for everyone and just let them be"_

I had called Edward straight after Alice had abruptly ended the conversation by walking inside and slamming the door, but of course, Tanya had answered. Maybe that was answer enough. It had been a day and she was still there and answering calls to the house? I had hung up without saying a word, but she probably knew it was me.

I was at a loss as to what to do. I had three days until the cruise was set to leave. What was I suppose to do until then? I had told my father I was taking a year off to travel already, and all he said was _'About time. Don't catch too many fish_.' I hadn't understood that one either. But for now Jake was taking over for me, though he wasn't keen for it. But he'd do anything for me and I was grateful for that, I didn't even what to think about what would happen if I didn't have him.

"Everything will be okay, B. Head up, chin up. Right?" Rosalie's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I glanced over at her with a smile.

"Thanks, Rose," I whispered "you know. For helping me through this, I'm pretty sure I'd be in a constant state of depressed drunkenness without you."

She laughed loudly and shook her head. "You were always strong, Bella. It was just inner strength and needed a little nudge to come out."


	7. Truth Is An Illusion

_**Truth Is An**_ ** _Illusion_**

I shouldn't be here. I knew it was a bad idea. I needed to talk to him though. I was leaving tomorrow and Jenks had just gotten back to me and said he received the papers. And they had been shredded. Twice. So here I was, standing in front of his office. I didn't want to go to the house. I didn't want there to be any chance that'd I'd run into _her._ So this was the only option.

I pushed open the office door, like I had a hundred times before, but this wasn't like all those other times, I should have known better than to open the door with the situation we were in. But I didn't, and I forced myself to not to show any emotion when I opened the door to find Edward sitting behind his desk and Tanya perched on the edge of it with no shirt on.

She covered up almost instantly when she heard the door open and Edward's eyes widened when he saw I was the one that opened it.

"Bella, it's not-" I raised my hard, cutting him off.

"Please don't," I half begged "I really don't want another round of it 'not being what I think' I've had enough to last me for a while." I placed the newly printed papers on the desk, ignoring a now fully dressed Tanya. "You need to sign them, Edward"

"I can't do that, Bella. If you'd just let me explain what happened," he pleaded, standing up and taking a step towards me.

"I don't want an explanation, I thought I did. I thought maybe you could say something to make it all better, but the truth is, I don't think you can, Edward." I said taking a step back to keep the distance between us.

"Please, Bella. I'll do anything. Just don't do this." Why was he doing this? I was giving him an out. I was letting him go.

"You know what you could do? You could look me in the eyes and honestly tell me that you never slept with her, that's she's not carrying your child. And I'd come home." He closed his eyes tightly and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry." was all he responded with and I laughed sadly.

"Being sorry won't fix this. Not this time." I walked up to him placing the papers on the desk next to him. He didn't say anything as he picked up the pen, nor did he reach out for me as I thought he would. He silently went through the papers signing them one by one. When he reached the last page his hand hovered, pausing for just a second. And then it was done.

I picked them up softly and hesitated for a second before placing a soft kiss of his cheek. "I'll fix this I promise." I smiled sadly at his whispered words.

"You can't fix something that's shattered Edward"


	8. A Voice I've Never Known

_**A Voice I'd Never Known**_

She was late, the ship was set to leave in an hour and Rosalie was suppose to be here half an hour ago, but she decided she needed to stop for coffee and get a Starbucks fix. I had already checked in and was lingering on the top deck waiting for her. I'd kill her if she missed it.

"A pretty girl sitting alone and unguarded. Must be my lucky day." I spun around startled and almost bumped into the guy that had spoken, I caught myself on the railing though and looked him over. He was probably over six feet and was built like a bear. It'd be quite intimidating if it was for the grin on his face, complete with actual dimples. He reminded me of Jake.

"I assure you, I can guard myself just fine," I huffed crossing my arms over my chest.

"I'm glad to hear it. Emmett McCarthy." he introduced, thrusting his hand out. I hesitated briefly before slipping my small hand into his large one.

"Bella Ma-" I cut myself off quickly and swallowed. "Swan. Bella Swan,"

"Beautiful name for a beautiful girl," I laughed softly and shook my head.

"Are you always such a flirt?" I teased leaning against the railing.

"No." He responded. I raised an eyebrow and he grinned, "I'm usually much worse. I'm toning it down for my brothers sake and we are going to be on this boat for damn long time, it might make it awkward." I laughed at that, I suppose it would be awkward. Like highschool all over again.

"Good idea." I agreed out loud, "So, you're here with your brother?"

"Yeah, dude needs to lighten up a bit." he joked, but I could see the concern in his eyes. He shook it off though and gestured to my hand, "all the good ones are always taken." I followed his gaze and saw the ring on my finger glistened in the sun.

"I couldn't bring myself to take them off, I'm actually soon to be divorced." I admitted, it was harder to say out loud than I cared to admit.

"His loss," was all he said and I smiled, grateful he didn't ask to know more.

"Bella!" we both turned at the sound of my name and I spotted Rosalie walking towards me. Coffee in hand and a smile.

"Play along with me and I'll put in a good word with her for you," I said to Emmett, who had gone slack jawed at the sight of Rosalie, he nodded excitedly and I grinned and waited for Rosalie to be within arm's reach before I spoke again.

"Yeah, we'd love to join you and you brother for dinner. Sounds great, right Rose?" I said looking at her with a raised brow.

"Ah, yeah, sounds great." She stuttered out grabbing my arm tightly. "Lets go find our rooms, Bella." she pulled on my arm and I grinned at Emmett.

"Meet us at 8, right here" I just managed to get out as Rosalie pulled me away.

"You got it, B." he called out with a wink. I let her drag me down the corridors silently, grimacing as we found my room and she pushed me inside.

"What the hell was that?" She exploded once the door was open, "I told you I wasn't cut out for dating"

"I also remember you said you'd date when I do and it's a double date and if you had been on time, I wouldn't of spoken to him at all, so It's pretty much your fault anyway." I told her falling back on my bed.

She sighed heavily and dropped down next to me. "He was hot though," I laughed pushing her shoulder.

"Hell yeah, he was."

^*^*^*^ **Time Jump** ^*^*^*^

"You look fine, Rose." I huffed for the tenth time. She was dressed in a deep red floor length gown that had a high neckline and was completely open in the back, a complete opposite to my black long sleeved lace gown that covered up nearly all of my skin, except my hands and head. "We're going to be late." She sighed staring at herself in the mirror and I stepped up behind her, "You look gorgeous, Rosalie and Emmett will be the envy of every man in there." she grinned at me.

"Let's go." She said pulling me out the door. We stepped out onto the deck minutes later and I spotted Emmett standing by the railings in a black tux, looking out at the ocean. I heard my phone ding as Emmett spotted us and I pushed Rosalie lightly towards him. She shot me a glare and I just smirked at her, sending a wave in Emmett's direction before turning away and checking my phone.

 _ **Have fun on the cruise and remember, there's plenty of fish in the sea.**_ I grinned shaking my head at Jake's text, I'd call him later. I put my phone back in my clutch and glanced over at Emmett and Rose. My grin turned into a smile as I watched them. Rose was laughing as Emmett stood at the tip of the boat with his arms spread wide, in what I guessed was an imitation of Titanic.

"They look like they're getting along." I jumped a little and looked over, my eyes connecting with bright blue. "sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," his voice was soft as he spoke, his blonde hair fell slightly in front of his eyes and he pushed it back as he stared at me.

"That's okay, I was lost in thought," I shrugged "I'm Bella, by the way." I added holding my hand out. He took it, but instead of shaking it as I thought he would, he brought it to his mouth, placing a soft kiss on it. I shook my head and laughed as I felt blood rush to my cheeks.

"I know." I raised an eyebrow questioningly and he was quick to backtrack, "What I meant was, I'm Emmett's brother and he told me about you. I'm Jasper." I smiled.

"It's nice to meet you, Jasper."


	9. A Glimpse Into The Past

_**A Glimpse Into The Past**_

"So, what's your story then darlin'?" I glanced up at Jasper while pushing the mushrooms around on my plate.

"Who says I have a story?" I teased pushing the plate away.

"It's written all over you," he told me with a smirk, "it could be the sad smile or the way your eyes glance around every few minutes, as if expecting someone, maybe it's the way you hold your arm across your stomach sometimes, like you're trying to keep yourself together. " He leaned forward, his eyes intent on mine and his voice turning into a whisper, like he was telling me this big secret. "But, really the thing that gives you away the most, is that you're wearing a wedding ring, yet you're on a one year cruise with your best friend instead of your husband,"

He sighed leaning back his chair, pushing the mushrooms around on his plate as I had on mine, "Though I guess it's really none of my business. I suppose I was just too curious not to at least ask. Must be the psychologist in me." he said, a sheepish smile spreading across his face and shot me a wink. He pushed his plate away suddenly in what looked like disgust, "I hate mushrooms," He told me with a grimace.

"So do I," I admitted laughing.

"Wanna go up onto the deck?" he asked, I glanced at Rosalie and Emmett. They had taken to the dance floor four songs ago and didn't look they'd be leaving anytime soon. I nodded to Jasper in confirmation before standing up, Jasper joined me a second later and offered his arm to me. I smiled softly, accepting his arm and slipping my hand into the crook.

We walked silently down the halls, passing couples mostly, some teenagers lingered in the halls, speaking to one another. Though when we finally made it to the deck, it was completely empty, I didn't even have a chance to feel cold before Jasper let my hand drop and shrugged out of his suit jacket to slip into onto my shoulders, I smiled greatfully at him and walked over to the railings of the ship. Looking out at the ocean, I felt Jasper come to stand next to me.

"I'm getting a divorce," I said after a minute of silence. "he was having an affair and she's pregnant with his child,"

"Doesn't sound like a very smart man," he told me softly and I laughed, though it sounded more like a snort.

"Apparently not." I agreed.

"I was married once," he admitted, turning around and leaving back on the railing. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed, "found out a year into our marriage she was only in it for the money," he laughed softly and shook his head. "I get payed to read people and I couldn't see the signs that were right in front of me." he looked at me now and then nodded to my left hand. "It took me a year to finally take mine off, don't let it take you that long."

^*^*^ **Time Jump Two Weeks Later** ^*^*^

"I swear to god, Emmett. Put me down," I screamed hitting his back, he just chuckled at my weak hits.

"What was that you said? Put you down?" he asked and struggled harder, "If you insist, Bella." the scream in my throat caught as I was thrown down and I almost swallowed half a ton of water as I swam back to the surface. I managed to get out of the way just in time for Rose to tackle Emmett from behind and push them both into the water.

I felt a small hand wrap around my ankle only a second before I was pulled under the water again. I came back up, brushing my hair out of my face and splashed a laughing Rosalie. "Real mature, you guys." I said swimming over to the side of the pool. Jasper was standing on the edge looking down at me in amusement.

I glared at him and reached my hand out to him expectantly. He rolled his eyes but bent down to grasp my hand in his. I made sure I had a good grip on it before I smirked at him, his eyes widened and he shook his head in protest but I had already steadied my legs against the pool wall and yanked him in. He resurfaced spluttering, he glared at me, but his blue eyes shone with humor as he grabbed me around the waist and dunked my head.

I pushed him away quickly and aimed to splashed him, he ducked under the water last minute though and the water hit Emmett right in the face. My eyes widened and I had to press my lips together to stop myself from laughing. He looked shocked for a second, before on evil grin spread across his face.

"Oh, it's so on!"

I fell onto the chair, my chest heaving as I try to catch my breath and Jasper collapsed next to me, his breathing laboured, "Remind me next time to never get into a splash war with Rosalie ever again," Jasper panted causing me to laugh.

"Only if you remind me the same about Emmett," I countered teasingly, he laughed as well and nodded in agreement. I shivered slightly as the cool air rushed across my skin. Emmett had dumped me into the pool with my shirt still on, so I'd have to get a new one, my stomach grumbled in protest and having to go all the way back to the room before I ate.

Jasper must of noticed my shiver and my stomach growling because he stood up a second later, picking up my bag and offering his hand to me, "I'll lend you a shirt. My rooms is closer and then we can go eat," I grinned agreeing quickly and grasping his hand to pull myself up. I was starving. I glanced around and realised Em and Rosalie must have left to get dry clothes on to. Or other things, I laughed to myself in my head. So much for Rosalie not being cut out for dating.

It didn't take long to get back to Jaspers room and he passed me a dry long sleeved tee-shirt after confirming that I had dry shorts to put on. I stepped into the bathroom and changed quickly, bundaling up my wet clothes into my towel and then into my bag. I stepped out of the bathroom and froze. Jasper had turned on music, so he didn't notice my entrance and was rifling through a draw, obviously looking for a shirt since his torso was completely bare and covered in scars.

I stepped behind him, my hand coming out hesitantly to touch one of the scars that ran down his back. He froze at my touch, his body going rigid under my fingertips. I pulled my hand back quickly and mumbled an apology. He grabbed a shirt from the draw and brought it over his head coving his back from my view. He switched the music off, still facing away from me. I heard him take in a shaky breath before he finally turned to face me, his eyes held so much pain in them, but they also held fear. What was he afraid of?

"I'm sorry, Jasper." I apologised again and he shook his head softly.

"Don't ever apologise. Not to me, I just, I didn't expect you to touch them," He shrugged slightly, "I know they're not exactly the prettiest thing to look at." he said with soft laugh.

"What happen?" I swallowed thickly and spoke again quickly, "I mean, you don't have to tell me," he shook his head and sighed.

"I suppose you noticed Em and I aren't very similar," he started and I nodded, Jasper was all blue eyed and blonde and Emmett was brown hair and hazel eyes. Not to mention the difference in personalities, I had just thought it was the luck of the draw. "We aren't blood brothers, I was adopted by Peter and Charlotte (Emmett's parents) when I was eleven," he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the draws before continuing,

"I didn't have the same upbringing as Emmett, my biological father was an abusive alcoholic and my mother was normally too high to notice or even care. I was ten when one of my teachers noticed blood soaking through one of my shirts, my father had taken a belt to my back and it had cut through the skin, I was so use to the beatings, that I hadn't even noticed. I got put in foster care for a year before the Whitlocks' found me. They saved me, I guess you could say."

I took a step towards him cautiously, I pulled on the bottom of his shirt, fisting it in my hand and pulling it up slowly, Jasper uncrossed his arms and I thought he'd stop me, but he let me pull it over his head and I dropped it to the floor. My hands ran over them, tracing the one over where his heart lay.

"My father told me once when I cut my leg open after I crashed my bike, the biggest fish in the lake also has the most scars and those scars aren't a sign of weakness,but strength, because, it survived," I breathed in deeply and cupped his face in my hands, "You're scars are beautiful, Jasper and you should be proud of them, because they show that you went through hell and survived it,"

I bent down to pick up his shirt and passed it back to him, "Now, I am absolutely starving. Care to join me for lunch?" I grinned holding out my hand, trying to lighten the mood, my stomach growled in agreement and I blushed, embarrassed, but Jasper thankfully smiled and shrugged his shirt back on.

"Looks like the beast has spoken," Jasper teased grasping my hand in his and pulling me out the door. I rolled my eyes, but I was smiling.

"Hilarious."


	10. A Lesson In Forgiveness

_**A Lesson In**_ ** _Forgiveness_**

"Come on, just try a little bit," I pushed Emmett's hand away laughing as he shoved an oyster into my face. I shook my head at him and leaned back in my chair. We were sitting up on a private deck, the boys had booked for dinner tonight. Emmett had ordered a seafood platter and was trying to convince me to try some, only I hated seafood.

"I'm not putting that in my mouth, Em. It even looks disgusting,' Emmett pouted before offering the oyster to Rosalie, who rolled her eyes but accepted. Jasper laughed next to me leaning back in his seat and throwing his arm across the back of my chair.

"You know, they're not that bad. You don't even have to chew them," he told me, picking one up and tipping it into his mouth before grabbing a second and lifting it to my lips. I looked at it and him hesitantly before opening my mouth in acceptance. He tipped in forward into my mouth and I felt my face scrunch up in disgust quickly grabbing my water and trying to wash the taste from my mouth.

I heard Rosalie and Emmett laugh at my reaction. I crossed my arms and leaned back in my chair with a huff. I shot a glare at Jasper and he pressed his lips tightly together to stop himself from laughing.

"I'm sorry, Bell. I really thought you'd like it," I ignored him as I felt my stomach turn and bile rise in my throat. I only just made it to the side of the ship before emptying the contents of my stomach into the ocean. I felt a hand of my back and another pull my hair out of my face.

I breathed deeply when my stomach finally stopped heaving and I felt someone rub a wet cloth over my forehead. A waiter showed up a second later and passed me some mouthwash, water and a pill. I smiled grateful and thanked him. He nodded and after I had used the mouthwash left us alone again. I popped the tablet in my mouth and swallowed half the bottle of water, sighing in relief as the water soothed my throat.

"I'm never eating seafood again," I joked, lightening the mood.

"Like you were going to anyway," Emmett teased. We stood out there talking for a while before deciding I was okay enough to finally order something to eat. No seafood though. We laughed and joked with each other as the night slipped past us. Rosalie finally announced that she was tired and after a reassurance that I was fine, but was going to stay out here a little longer, her and Emmett headed back below deck, leaving Jasper and I alone.

"How'd you do it, Jasper?" I asked after a moment, his arm wrapped around my shoulder as I shivered and he pulled me close.

"Do what?" he wondered.

"Take off your ring. Move on, I guess. I find myself thinking about him all the time and everytime I catch myself staring at my ring. I drives me crazy." I let out frustrated and Jasper let go of my shoulder to stand in front of me leaned against the railing guard, he stared at the ship, as I stared at the dark ocean.

"I just realised that, I had to forgive her. That I wouldn't be able to move on until then, but what you have to remember is, just because you forgive, it doesn't mean forgetting what he did. It just means being able to move forward," he sighed heavily, his voice soft as he continued. "I put all the bad memories, the negative emotions and the hurtful actions and I thought of them as the ring and then I threw it as hard as I could in to the Mississippi River. And I left all those memories in the lake, it helped me to be able to think of the good memories without them being tainted by her actions and I could finally leave it all behind and forgive her,"

I ran his words around in my head, could I really do that? Could I really just forgive, Edward? I twisted my ring around my finger and slowly slipped it off. I held in my hand for a moment, it felt heavy, as if the weight of the world rested in my palm. I closed my fingers over the ring and thought, I thought of the way I felt after reading those first text messages and every other moment after, I recalled the anger, the hurt. The feeling of the world slipping through my fingers and I thought of them wrapping around the ring, like a weed almost.

The ring held nothing but pain for me now. I understood that now, the ring had been tainted from the minute I knew about what he had done and by holding onto the ring, I was holding on to all those negative feelings. If I was to ever move forward, be it with or without Edward. Holding on to this ring wasn't going to help, it wasn't me holding onto him, I was holding onto his last actions and all it was doing was hurting me more. I pulled my arm back and with a swing of my arm, threw the ring into the ocean.

I breathed in deeply, I felt like for the first time since that first text I could actually breath properly. I wasn't weighed down by the feelings Edward's actions had caused. I was free. I looked at Jasper smiling my thanks, He grinned back at me, taking a step towards me.

"I'm glad you did that, I was scared it'd get in the way," he whispered.

"In the way of what?" I asked, my voice soft as he stood toe to toe with me and cupped my face in his hands.

"This," and then he kissed me.


	11. Learning To Breathe Again

_**Learning To Breathe Again**_

I could feel something tickling my shoulder, I was so comfortable though, that I didn't want to get up. I wiggled slightly and felt a rush of warm breath across my back, as if someone laughed against my skin. I groaned an turned my head the other way opening my eyes. Jasper eyes were bright as they met mine from over my shoulder, his lips pressed against my bare shoulder. I felt him smile against my skin and I buried my face into the pillow, grinning.

"You look way to happy for so early in the morning," I mumbled into the pillow.

"Well, it _is_ afternoon, not morning." he corrected, I peeked one eye open and groaned.

"It's still too early for that smile," I told him. He grinned down at me and shrugged.

"I'm starved, let's go eat." He said instead of answering. He kissed my shoulder and slapped my butt playfully, before he jumped up from the bed, naked as the day he was born and stretched his arms over his head. I swallowed harshly as I took in his body and groaned when I noticed he was staring at me with a smirk as I looked him over. I buried my head back into the pillow, mumbling under my breath.

"Come on, I know you're hungry too," he teased, my stomach grumbled in agreement and he laughed at me as I groaned in embarrassment. "The beast has spoken, get your clothes on, darlin'." I kept grumbling under my breath, but reluctantly got up and headed towards his shower. I heard him groan behind me and blushed realising he wasn't the only naked one in the room.

I didn't hear him come up behind me, but suddenly I was lifted up bridal style, "I changed my mind, food can wait." I shook my head laughing as he carried me into the shower and slammed the door behind us.

When we finally made it to the dining area, Emmett and Rosalie were sitting at one of the tables eating already and Rose waved us over once she spotted us. Jasper told me to go over and he's get some food. I nodded, blushing when he pressed a kiss against my cheek. I made my way over to the table and took a seat next to Rose, leaving an open one in between Emmett and I.

"Hey guys," I greeted stealing a strawberry off Rosalie's plate.

"Hey, how're you feeling?" Rose asked casually. I shrugged slightly.

"Not bad, I think it was just the seafood not agreeing with me," I answered as Jasper sat down, placing a huge plate of fruit down in between us.

"That's good," Emmett cut in, a mischievous smile on his face, "You know, Rose insisted we stop by your room this morning," he added casually and my eyes widened slightly, "just to see how you were doing, you weren't there though. So we stopped by Jasper's room, he sounded a little busy though." I could feel the blush creep across my cheeks and Emmett laughed. Rosalie hit him in the arm, but she was smiling.

Jasper chuckled next to me and threw an arm around the back of my chair, "I was watching porn," he said casually, throwing a wink my way.

"Sure sounded like it. The shower is a weird place to watch a porno though," Emmett said with a raised eyebrow. Jasper just rolled his eyes.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you have a key to my room," was all he replied.

Rose ignored both boys and turned to me, "There's a doctor you can see in Rio," I shook my head.

"I don't need to see a doctor, Rose. My stomach just didn't agree with the seafood." I told her.

"Still, you should get checkout while we're there," I nodded with a shrug.

"Sure," I agreed.

"Welcome to Rio De Janeiro," I smiled at the overly enthusiastic driver, we were here for four days, and I had to admit I was excited. I had never been to Rio. Jasper offered his hand as I stepped out of the car, not letting go as we waited for Emmett and Rose to join us.

Rose had rented out an apartment for the time we were staying and it was amazing on the inside, almost everything was white and open, there was a pool on the balcony and it looked over the ocean. There was only two rooms, but the boys decided to bunk with us instead of a hotel. Neither Rose nor I minded sharing a room with them though. We went out to dinner the first night we were there and visited the midnight markets. The second day Rose convinced me to go to the doctors, turned out I was right and there was nothing wrong with me, my body just didn't like seafood and then we spent the day beach, snorkelling and tanning. The third night we were there was the Carnival and definitely the highlight of the trip.

I couldn't remember the last time I had felt so free, the obligations of the world seemed distant as we danced and tried weird new foods. The last day we spent just spent in wandering, taking in the sights of the city. It was beautiful. I wanted to stay there forever and after the phone call I got later that night I wished I had stayed.


	12. A Fork In The Road

_**A Fork In The Road**_

 _Married._

I laughed disbelievingly down at my phone, it's been three days since the divorce was finalised and according to a call I just got from Jake, Edward has married his whore and the media is having a field day with it. Apparently everyone has something to say about the heiress of Swan Enterprises husband leaving her for his secretary, because that's not cliche at all. Add to that the fact that no one has been able to find me and there is chaos.

I felt a jacket being draped across my back and I looked up to Jasper smiling down at me. I returned the smile as he sat down behind me and pulled me into his arms, "What's wrong darlin'?" He asked, I told him about the call from Jake and the media problems, he listened to the whole thing without saying anything.

"Remind me to thank Edward one day," was all he said after I finished, I looked at him confused and he grinned at me, "if he had never messed up, I wouldn't be sitting here with my arms wrapped around you right now," I laughed as blood rushed to my cheeks.

"You're so cheesy, Jas." I told him shaking my head.

"I like to think of it as Southern charm," he teased.

"I didn't know you were from the South," I said leaning my head back against his shoulder, looking up at the stars.

"I was born there," he explained, "I lost the accent after awhile. It's where I want to end up, buy a farm, raise some horses." I smiled turning my head to face him.

"Sounds nice," I whispered, he leaned his head forward to touch his lips to mine.

"Maybe it's a dream we can share one day," he said against my lips.

"Maybe it is," I agreed.

"And don't stress too much about the media circus, they'll find new meat by the time we reach our next stop. Don't let them ruin this for you." He insisted.

"You know, in a way I wish we could have stayed in Rio forever," I admitted, "but at the same time. I'm glad we're going forward. I feel like for the first time in my life, I'm figuring out who I am. I'm not being what everyone else wants me to be, I just feel like I'm finally being me."

* * *

 _So I know it's super short, but I wanted to get it up here, there will be more to come and hopefully longer chapters, thanks for reading! :)_


	13. Writer's Note (Important)

**Super important!**

 _If you're reading this and have read The Wrong Fish or the other ending in The right fish. Put both of those out of your mind. In this version Edward is an asshole that cheated on his wife with his secretary got her pregnant and only married Bella because he thought it would help his career he thought Bella leaving would damage his name and that's the only reason he was playing innocent and trying to get her to stay, this story in suppose to be cute and fun, not the drama filled story The Right Fish was._


	14. Wandering Minds

_**Wandering Minds**_

 _^*^*Two Weeks later*^*^_

"Bella," he whispered in my ear, I refused to look at him though and kept looking out at the dancing couples. "Bella, baby. Baby Bell." I bit my lip to stop from smiling. I shook my head as I felt his lips brush the skin under my ear. "Dance with me, Baby"

"I'm no good at dancing, Jasper, I told you that." I responded, rolling my eyes. "And I honestly don't feel like making a fool out of myself in front of all these people," he laughed.

"Please, baby? I promise I won't let you fall." he told me and I couldn't stop the smile this time and he grasped my chin between his thumb and forefinger and turned my face to look at me, "pretty please?" he batted his lashes teasingly and pouted at me, I shook my head and him and pulled my face away, but offered my hand when his eyes dulled a little.

He grinned at me and half yanked me up to my feet, he led up out on to the dancefloor pulling me into his arms. We danced for a minute in silence and Jasper tried not to wince and I stepped onto his toes, I sighed and pulled away from him after the third time. He pulled me back and wrapped his arms around me tightly. "You're not going anywhere," He said, "I finally got you out here, I'm not letting you go that easily."

"I'm so terrible at this," I muttered, watching my feet intently. He pulled my face up to look at him.

"Don't look at your feet, Bell." he whispered. "Just keep your eyes on mine, don't think about what's going on down there. Focus on just me." I did what he asked, he mumbled steps to me as we moved, always keeping his eyes locked with mine. "You're dancing," he teased lightly after two songs had finished. The last one came to a close and we clapped with all the other couples as the band came off stage.

"We're gonna head back down," Rosalie told me as we made it back to the table, I nodded.

"We dock at ten, make sure you're up there by then," I reminded her and she just rolled her eyes, but Emmett promised they'd be up by then before pulling her away downstairs.

"Come on," Jasper said grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the outside deck. "Are you looking forward to docking tomorrow?" he asked as we walked around, our hands swung between us as we walked side by side. I shrugged.

"Sort of, I kind of like it out here though." I admitted with a sigh. "I feel like the outside world doesn't effect us out here and when we finally touch back on dry land, the weight of the world will just crash down." we stopped and looked out at the dark ocean.

"You know, I had never left the US before this trip. The furthest I had gone was New York and that was for college. I never thought I ever would. You know, with the company base being in Seattle. I think I had just accepted that my life was pretty much always going to belong to the company." I took a deep breath and Jasper wrapped his arms around me as I shivered. "Being out here though, I feel like I can finally breath and my life is my own for once."

"Maybe you should talk to your father, tell him how you feel." Jasper suggested.

"I didn't even know I had these feelings before I got on this ship." I tried to explain. "I feel like I'm going crazy thinking about everything I have to deal with when this ship reaches home. In a way, I just wish we could stay on here forever."

"Then just don't think about it, keep your mind focused on the here and now. All those problems can wait. Just lock them all away, in the back of your mind and focus on me." I felt him press a kiss against my hair and smiled.

"I think I can do that,"

"Welcome to South Africa," Rosalie groaned at the loud voice of out tour guide and I laughed nudging her. Emmett had kept his word and they were there at exactly ten, Rosalie looked half dead of course, but they were there.

"Thanks, excited to be here." I answered shaking his hand. We all carried small duffel bags, the tour would take ten days and would take us across the bottom of South Africa, we will be linking up with the the ship again in Zululand.

"We'll be traveling to, Oudtshoorn this morning. If you'll follow me," we all nodded and followed him over to a large jeep looking thing, there was four other people standing by it with what looked to be another tour guide. The guy took our bags from us and stashed them somewhere in the back while the four people came over to introduce themselves.

Jasper threw his arm over my shoulders and whisper a joke about having sex while camping in my ear, I shot him a glare and elbowed him playfully in the stomach. He just grinned cheekily at me and continued whispering inappropriate jokes in my ear as I tried not to laugh.

"Hi, I'm Benjamin" the guy was short and had a slightly accented voice, I couldn't pick up where it was from though, "and this is my girlfriend, Tia." He pointed to a cute brunette girl, leaning on the car. She waved with a smile, "That's Amun and Kebi." the girl and guy he pointed out both gave small greetings, Benjamin seemed to be the more outgoing one of the group.

"Well, I'm Emmett," Em introduced enthusiastically. "This beautiful girl next to me is Rosalie" he continued and Rose just rolled her eyes, "And that's Bella and Jasper," Jasper waved and I just sent them a small smile. "Where are you guys from?" he asked.

"Egypt originally. We've just left Yale though, decided to travel a little before settling somewhere." He explained. "What about you all?"

"Well, we're Americans unfortunately," Emmett joked, "We're traveling on the Princess Cruise,"

"Sorry to interrupt," the tour guide said stepping between us. "We're set to leave now, so if you'd all like to board now," we all nodded and piled into the jeep, we took the back, and the other four took the middle. Emmett was like a little kid as he bounced in his seat, it got worse when he finally spotted wild animal .

"Holy crap, it's an elephant." He exclaimed pointing to, what was actually a group of elephants, I had to admit I thought it was pretty awesome too. I grabbed my camera from my bag and pulled myself up with the frame to start taking pictures. Emmett called out every time he spotted an animal and we all joked with each other, taking silly pictures and talking about random things.

When we finally made camp in Oudtshoorn it was just past dusk. The tour guides set up a camp fire as we tried to set up the tents. I ended up tripping into one of them, snapping one of the poles and almost setting another on fire before Emmett picked me up and sat me on the ground, he picked up a stick and drew a circle around me. I couldn't stop laughing the whole time as he was talking, telling me I wasn't allowed to come out of the 'circle of disaster' until everything was set up.

The others were all laughing a teasing me as I sat in the circle and they set up the rest of the tents. Now that I was out of the way it didn't take log to get the rest of the tents up and Jasper came to get me. "Let's go make some s'mores," he told me. We all sat around the fire, roasting marshmallows, drinking beer and telling stories.

"This one time, Bella and I went to Forks, it's this small town near Seattle" Rosalie explained, "and we decided to go cliff diving,"

"No, Rose. That's embarrassing, don't tell that story," I interrupted. Jasper cover my mouth though and told her to continue.

"Anyway," she drawled out, glaring at me. "We go to jump, I go over the edge, but Bella here, hesitated, slipped and ended up stuck, holding onto the side of this cliff and scaring the shit out of all of us. Jake finally ended up convincing her to push off the wall" Rose finished laughing, everyone else did too and Jasper released my moth wrapping his arms around me.

"Aw, my poor baby." He whispered teasingly in my ear and I rolled my eyes.

"Shut up, Jas." I joked.

"Speaking of embarrassing stories..." Emmett started and Jasper threw him a glare. "Jasper here, graduation day. Trips on his graduation gown and goes head first in to a fountain, taking our headmistress with him." we all laughed and Jasper buried his head in my neck.

"Okay," Jasper said finally, "I'm taking my girl to bed, or sleeping bag as the case may be." He stood up and pulled me with him. I gave my goodnight and ignored Emmett when he yelled out that the tents weren't soundproof, so keep it down. Jasper flipped him off though and told him to take his own advice.

When we finally lay down comfortably, my head was on his chest on his arm wrapped around me. I was out of breath and Jasper had a red mark on his shoulder where I had bitten him in an attempt to stay quite. He said he liked it though, like I had marked my territory. I just slapped his arm playfully.

I wanted to stay in this moment forever.


	15. And So It Ends As It Begins, With Love

**_And So It Ends As It Began, With Love_**

 _7 Years later..._

I rubbed my arms as I stood in front of the old theater, the wind had grown colder as it ghosted over my exposed skin, goosebumps prickled over my arms and I fidgeted as I waited. This place always gave me the creeps, there was people milling about, some headed into the theater, others just passing by. _Where were they going?_ I wondered as I watched them. Probably somewhere warm.

"Bella?" I spun around, my eyes dimmed slightly as I realised it wasn't who I thought. Though I should have guessed that by the sound of the voice.

"Edward," I breathed. He looked the same as he always did, his bronze hair was still an untamed mess and his green eyes still shone. He stood differently though, like the weight of the world had been on his shoulders, but he was pulling through. I knew when I moved back to Seattle two years ago there was a chance I'd run it to him at some point. It had been seven years since I last saw him and it was still too soon.

"What are you doing in Seattle?" he asked as he stood awkwardly scratching the back of his neck.

"I live here." I answered with a shrug.

"Oh," we stood there in awkward silence for a moment before he spoke again, "I heard Jacob had taken over control of Swan Enterprises."

"Yeah, I went back to college. I'm an English teacher now." I answered. It had taken almost the entire cruise to decide what I wanted to do when I got back home and a month before the trip came to an end, I decided that I wanted to become a teacher. It was a hard conversation to have with my father, but four years later, I graduated,and taught my first class two months after. I loved it.

"Wow, I never knew you wanted to be a teacher," he said.

"Neither did I," I took a deep breath, "how's Tanya and, um, the baby? Well I suppose it wouldn't really be a baby any more."

"She's good, we're not together any more actually. But Irene, our daughter. She's six now and amazing. My world, she has my hair and eyes. Suits them way better than I do," he joked with a far away look on his face, a small smile ghosting over his lips.

"Edward, sorry I'm late." She touched his shoulder lightly before looking over at me, she looked shocked at first and then she forced a smile. "Bella, it's nice to see you."

"Hey Alice." I did repeat her sentiment. It would have been a lie if I had.

"We should be going in, the show will start soon, Bella-" Edward was cut off and a jacket was shrugged on to my shoulders.

"Sorry. I couldn't find the stupid jacket in the car," Jasper apologised, "I called Rosalie too and Adam is fine." he added. He finally noticed Edward and Alice, when Edward cleared his throat. "Sorry, am I interuppting something?" he asked, looking between us confused.

"No, not at all. I'm Edward Masen and this is my sister, Alice." Edward introduced sticking his hand out. Jasper reached out and shook it firmly.

"Jasper Whitlock, I'm Bella's husband." Edward's eyes widened in shock, but he shook it off quickly. Jasper made a show of looking down at his watch. "We should probably go find our seats." I nodded in agreement.

"Bye, Edward, Alice. It was," nice? It hadn't really been. "Interesting."

"Yeah, you too, Bella." I linked hands with Jasper, pulling him into the theatre.

"Well that was awkward," I couldn't help, but laugh and nudge him on the shoulder. "It was nice to meet the man I replaced." he joked, "you defiantly upgraded." I laughed louder and he yanked me back into him by my hand and wrapped his arms tightly around me.

"You're so full of yourself." I told him shaking my head and looking up at him. His eyes brightened and he leaned his forhead against mine.

"You love me though," he teased, I leant up pressed my lips against his.

"I do love you, so much. You saved me." I told him smiling lightly.

"You saved you, I just gave you the ladder. You climbed it all on your own."

 _ **THE END**_

* * *

 _So this isn't completely the end. I will at some point in the future add more of Bella and Jasper's story. What lead them here, the good and the bad. But I'm not feeling much inspired right now, so it's on pause. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it :)_


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